This being a continued collection of scrolls of any questions the Scribes and visitors of Candlekeep wish to put to a master who needs no introduction, namely - Ed Greenwood, creator of the Forgotten Realms.

Ed's works include MANY FR sourcebooks and numerous novels, such as Cormyr: A Novel, Spellfire, Silverfall, The Shadows of the Avatar Trilogy and The Elminster Series, to name but a few.

Present your questions herein and check back to see what news may also come forth from the quill of this author.

For previous entries of the many, many writings of lore by Ed, please see the 2014 entries in this collection of scrolls, the 2013 entries here, the 2012 entries here, the 2011 entries here, the 2010 entries here, the 2009 entries here the 2008 entries here, the 2007 entries here, the 2006 entries here, the 2005 entries here, and the 2004 entries here. 'ware, these run into over 80 pages, ye may be reading for some time. For a concise read of Ed's replies, visit the "So Saith Ed" page on the Candlekeep site.

It's a fixed point in time, but Sage's TARDIS isn't prevented from landing in it. I suspect he keeps trying to complete his other tasks on time, but because reasons, he can't land at the right point to deliver them.

Does anyone else find it amusing that the only thing Sage completes in a timely manner is the annual closure/respawning of the Ask Ed thread?

I bet he has a SageScript set up to do it, so that even when he's busy it still gets done (early).

Pretty much, that's it. Usually I'm away at New Year's celebrations with the Lady K, so I've a pre-loaded routine in SageOS which both amends and then posts the requisite information at the year switch over. The only thing I need to do is make sure I have two windows open in my browser for the processes to complete themselves.

Now, if only all the other tasks on my "To-Do" List could be handled in a similar fashion...

On that note, happy New Year to everyone! Hopefully it's going well for you Sage, in spite of your presence here instead of absence at festivities.

And because I'm chatting here, I shall continue to pile on more questions.

Was the Stalking Sword created for the Ruins of Undermountain box, or have they been used in the home game? Are they natives of Waterdeep? Not asking for new lore, just wondering if it's already been written.

The Rise of the Underdark products (Menzoberranzan: City of Intrigue and the three DnD Encounters seasons dealing with the drow) repeatedly state that the Demon Weave is supposed to replace Mystra's 'torn' Weave and that it's creation was begun in 1480 DR then, in War of Everlasting Darkness, it says that the Demon Weave will be used to "restore her[Mystra's] tattered Weave". The Sundering series establishes that Mystra's Weave is restored in 1479 DR, but WoED says that Lolth is defeated six years later in 1485 DR.

So I guess my question is: Did the Demon Weave and the Weave exist concurrently and what kind of state was Mystra's Weave in during those six and a half years?

This is from my wife who is a druid of Silvanus: her first adventure was "The Halls of the Beast-Tamers" from the first edition gray box. Where did that tabaxi come from? We sent her back through one of the portals, where did those two portals lead to?

Also, she asked what druids are supposed to eat since they largely refrain from killing animals?! As a major meat eater she seems quite perturbed by this...

:)

Happy New Year! Thanks for all the enjoyment you have given us down the years. I can definitely say that some of my earliest and fondest memories are that of reading through the old 1st edition "Gray Box" and memorizing all the glyph cards and underdark symbols! Good times.

This is from my wife who is a druid of Silvanus: her first adventure was "The Halls of the Beast-Tamers" from the first edition gray box. Where did that tabaxi come from? We sent her back through one of the portals, where did those two portals lead to?

Also, she asked what druids are supposed to eat since they largely refrain from killing animals?! As a major meat eater she seems quite perturbed by this...

:)

Happy New Year! Thanks for all the enjoyment you have given us down the years. I can definitely say that some of my earliest and fondest memories are that of reading through the old 1st edition "Gray Box" and memorizing all the glyph cards and underdark symbols! Good times.

Part of this is simple. A druid is about balance of nature, as such hunting and eating meat is part of the natural order. What the druid objects to are things like over harvesting and deforestation type of activities. A druid would not stop a wolf from eating a rabbit, any more then stopping a rabbit from eating plants.

Thus it is clear a druid will eat at least rabbit and plants as diet desires as long as it is not out of balance..

"Small beings can have small wisdom," the dragon said. "And small wise beings are better than small fools. Listen: Wisdom is caring for afterwards.""Caring for afterwards ...? Ker repeated this without understanding."After action, afterwards," the dragon said. "Choose the afterwards first, then the action. Fools choose action first.""Judgement" copyright 2003 by Elizabeth Moon

And a Happy New Year to you and all scribes, Cards77!I've just got off the phone with Ed, who had just finished some needed Realmslore in a hurry, and he hath responded to SOME of your recent questions, and promises "better and more complete" responses when he can.Cards77, the tabaxi and the destinations of those gates will have to wait for Ed. I know where one leads, having stepped through it as a Knight of Myth Drannor, but when I asked Ed if I should share, he told me: "Ah, but it's not as simple as that. Some traverses arrive at different destinations; it depends."On what? On the circumstances: who is using the gate, what items they're wearing or carrying, the presence of enchantments on them and the nature of those enchantments, when they step through the gate, and so on.As for druids: most of them get their protein from nuts and berries, and the bulk of their diet is vegetarian, but druids are allowed to eat the flesh of any predator that attacked them and subsequently met its death (whether they killed it, helped slay it, or just watched), and there are some exemptions from refraining from killing that have to do with druidic festivals, quests, and undertakings on behalf of Silvanus, Mielikki, or Eldath. (Clergy of Malar can of course hunt and slay at will.)

And now I move to hashimashadoo's question.Ed saith:

Lolth intended the Demon Weave to replace Mystra's damaged Weave, and allow her to become the goddess of magic and therefore the greatest deity of all (excepting Ao the Overgod). However, Lolth has a problem shared by many, many deities: her hubris doth outstrip her performance. In her case, by a long shot: she's wanted a certain Drizzt Do'Urden dead for years, and hasn't yet managed it, and he's just a lone mortal. Yes, the Demon Weave and the Weave did co-exist for years; the Demon Weave was Lolth's creation, and for the most part worked very reliably for those mortals she wanted to be able to access it, but it was never self-supporting or self-sustaining—from the outset it fed on (drained energy from) Mystra's Weave, and if the Weave had ever utterly failed (which it might have done, given the fate of Azuth, if Elminster and Storm and the Srinshee and many, many others hadn't worked so hard to anchor it and prop it up and mend its rents), the Demon Weave would have collapsed and faded away with it, because - - like the Shadow Weave before it - - the Demon Weave was tapping the Weave for energy AND stability. Lolth just lacks the skills to properly understand the complex flows and balances; all she's mastered is the taking of power and its unleashing in various forms (i.e. magical effects), not how to keep the entire house of cards from collapsing.So one of the greatest ironies in all of this is that - - to save the Weave and therefore protect most of the Realms from the ravages of utter magical chaos - - Elminster and Storm and the others did work that allowed the Demon Weave to persist and function for years longer than it would have, otherwise.

So saith Ed. Right, his first direct lore replies of 2015, and now for an encore: xaeyruudh, the Stalking Sword weren't created just for that boxed set, and Ed tells me there is lore written for them. As for when we'll see it . . . he can't promise anything yet. "Not until a certain project progresses a tad farther." is all he'll say right now.

But wait, there's more!Ed tells me Elminster has never had a familiar (in the game sense of the term). He's had companion animals, but not a hit point-related linkage with them. He's had telepathic and empathic connections with many of them, but those were generated by other spells and didn't create the conditions gamers know for a wizard's "familiar." Companion creatures (aside from humans and elves) aren't something he's tended to have for years, now; consorting with Elminster is just too much of a certain death sentence for him to want to consign creatures to it.

And that seems to be it from Ed for now, but it's still early evening on New Year's Eve here, and he's still at the keyboard working, so who knows?Happy New Year, everybody! I believe I'll strip off my clothes and go for a swift run around the yard, to celebrate (in the howling icy wind and dark, but for my fellow scribes, why not?)!love to all,THO

Hello again, all!Well, Ed wasn't done after all. He has a reply for Cards77, for a query posted last year, regarding Higharvestide:

Cards77, Higharvestide has been described in many places down the years (notably web articles at the Wizard website), and is essentially one of the simplest of the major feast days of the calendar: it’s a big feast.Or to put matters more formally, Higharvestide (also rendered in some places in the Realms as “High Harvesttide”) is an annual day-long festival of thanksgiving, in which feasts are held in all communities of more than three families, and any passersby is to be freely fed and given drink.Before the festival day, folk gather (sometimes for as long as a tenday) to cook and prepare food for the feast, and to preserve (by pickling, salt-crocking, smoking, drying, jarring in oil, and so on) provender for larders and cellars (i.e. to keep it from spoiling in storage as it’s rationed out over the colder months ahead).In some communities, races and contests (especially food-related) are held, prizes are given, “queen of the feast” or “king of pickles” or “lord of the roasts” or whatever applicable mock titles are conferred, and priests bless larders and racked vintages and prepared foodstuffs. By tradition, clergy of some faiths give out sweets (of their own making, or that came from a temple-farm or monastery of their faith).In various countries, Higharvestide is used as an anniversary for secular events to befall, too—such as being a deadline for paying certain taxes (and a day for tax collection for those who haven’t yet paid). Oaths of fealty are publicly performed, “open courts” (when rulers hear complaints, suggestions, pleas, and deputations from citizens) are held (many of which continue for days after Higharvestide itself, if citizens are still waiting to be heard), and troops march to new duty stations. In some cities, guilds meet to set prices or rates for their wares or services, to take effect either immediately or on one of the feast days later in the calendar (usually Greengrass).By tradition (though fewer and fewer individuals actually adhere to these tenets, in the 1300s and 1400s DR), dwarves drink only water at Higharvestide, and elves drink only dew.Higharvestide is also when the Stag King is sometimes seen in the air above the flames of bonfires—a towering human figure with a stag’s eyeless skull as its head, complete with a massive rack of antlers. Those who see the Stag King are destined to know adventure in the year ahead, though that may mean anything from getting lost in a fog for a few hours or straying into someone else’s bedchamber to going on quests or exploring dungeons and fighting monsters.Children born on Higharvestide are said to be favored by Tymora (have good luck) lifelong, and to have wanderlust. Human females born on Higharvestide get pregnant only when they want to (i.e. have birth control over themselves by force of will alone), and a side-effect of this ability is that they can instantly sense when they have poison or venom (though not disease) in their bloodstream.And finally, wild herds move at Higharvestide, as if infected by restlessness. They may return to their former grazing grounds later, but they will travel on the day itself.It should be noted that Higharvestide isn’t quite the same thing as the Chauntean High Prayers of the Harvest, which celebrate the bounty Chauntea has given a community and are held at different times in each community to coincide with the actual harvest of crops, rather than precisely at Higharvestide.

So saith Ed, and there you have it. So there are local contests, from races and hide-and-seek games to pie-eating, pie making, and "best whatever" events, often judged by a local wizard or ruler.Hope this is in time!love,THO

Hello again, all!Well, Ed wasn't done after all. He has a reply for Cards77, for a query posted last year, regarding Higharvestide:

Cards77, Higharvestide has been described in many places down the years (notably web articles at the Wizard website), and is essentially one of the simplest of the major feast days of the calendar: it’s a big feast.Or to put matters more formally, Higharvestide (also rendered in some places in the Realms as “High Harvesttide”) is an annual day-long festival of thanksgiving, in which feasts are held in all communities of more than three families, and any passersby is to be freely fed and given drink.Before the festival day, folk gather (sometimes for as long as a tenday) to cook and prepare food for the feast, and to preserve (by pickling, salt-crocking, smoking, drying, jarring in oil, and so on) provender for larders and cellars (i.e. to keep it from spoiling in storage as it’s rationed out over the colder months ahead).In some communities, races and contests (especially food-related) are held, prizes are given, “queen of the feast” or “king of pickles” or “lord of the roasts” or whatever applicable mock titles are conferred, and priests bless larders and racked vintages and prepared foodstuffs. By tradition, clergy of some faiths give out sweets (of their own making, or that came from a temple-farm or monastery of their faith).In various countries, Higharvestide is used as an anniversary for secular events to befall, too—such as being a deadline for paying certain taxes (and a day for tax collection for those who haven’t yet paid). Oaths of fealty are publicly performed, “open courts” (when rulers hear complaints, suggestions, pleas, and deputations from citizens) are held (many of which continue for days after Higharvestide itself, if citizens are still waiting to be heard), and troops march to new duty stations. In some cities, guilds meet to set prices or rates for their wares or services, to take effect either immediately or on one of the feast days later in the calendar (usually Greengrass).By tradition (though fewer and fewer individuals actually adhere to these tenets, in the 1300s and 1400s DR), dwarves drink only water at Higharvestide, and elves drink only dew.Higharvestide is also when the Stag King is sometimes seen in the air above the flames of bonfires—a towering human figure with a stag’s eyeless skull as its head, complete with a massive rack of antlers. Those who see the Stag King are destined to know adventure in the year ahead, though that may mean anything from getting lost in a fog for a few hours or straying into someone else’s bedchamber to going on quests or exploring dungeons and fighting monsters.Children born on Higharvestide are said to be favored by Tymora (have good luck) lifelong, and to have wanderlust. Human females born on Higharvestide get pregnant only when they want to (i.e. have birth control over themselves by force of will alone), and a side-effect of this ability is that they can instantly sense when they have poison or venom (though not disease) in their bloodstream.And finally, wild herds move at Higharvestide, as if infected by restlessness. They may return to their former grazing grounds later, but they will travel on the day itself.It should be noted that Higharvestide isn’t quite the same thing as the Chauntean High Prayers of the Harvest, which celebrate the bounty Chauntea has given a community and are held at different times in each community to coincide with the actual harvest of crops, rather than precisely at Higharvestide.

So saith Ed, and there you have it. So there are local contests, from races and hide-and-seek games to pie-eating, pie making, and "best whatever" events, often judged by a local wizard or ruler.Hope this is in time!love,THO

Awesome! Thank you both so much. My wife and I are gaming right now and discussed Ed's answers, our group is contemplating a return to The Halls of the Beast-Tamers to explore the gates. Much food for thought.

We have always wondered about the tabaxi. We helped her as best we could. I think my wife wants to believe that she made it all the way back home to Maztica/Chult....

perhaps our paths will cross again, should we take one of the gates.

I seem to recall one going to Skullport, but the other is a mystery to me, but it was in an old supplement somewhere....(Undermountain?)

I was wondering if either of you could provide us with some details on some of the various border raider or monster groups active in the Stonelands, whether past, present, or even slain. I don't recall ever really seeing any specifics detailed in print before. In regards to smugglers, how do they use the Stonelands to smuggle things into and out of Cormyr? And if possible, what types of things do they usually smuggle?

Hi again, all.Eilserus, I can begin to provide a partial answer to your last question (from my years of playing a PC with Ed as my DM):Two main sorts of things: illegal trade substances (certain poisons, kidnap victims, cadavers or body parts and organs both fresh and preserved of sentient races, identifiable stolen goods like nobles' rings and royal regalia and paintings or statuettes snatched from Cormyrean collections) and contraband = trade goods that the smugglers are avoiding import and export limits and more often duties on, like weapons, armor, certain wines and spirits, minor magic items ("glowing globes" that serve as hovering light sources, for example).The proximity of the warehouses of Arabel (and also the "nady highway" of the valley north of Eveningstar that the Haunted Halls open into) means that various caves and ravines in the Stonelands can be used as way-storage for goods to be "beyond the reach and scrutiny" of Cormyrean authorities most of the time, and moved into Arabel at just the right moment to be bought or sold when the right caravan-traders are stopping over (and to manipulate prices by affecting local supply, either producing a glut out of seemingly nowhere or a sudden dire shortage).The Caverns of the Claws and the front room of the Haunted Halls themselves, not to mention that hollow in the rock pillar outside the Halls in the valley, all provide handy storage for small amounts of cargo.We Knights (back when we were the Swords) saw this sort of shady shuttling going on all the time, and got caught up in skirmishes involving it fairly often (smugglers dislike witnesses). It was a way of life for some folk in Eveningstar, and this business, plus the legitimate overland mercantile trade, plus the Purple Dragon road patrols (notably out of High Horn and Arabel), all made the Lonesome Tankard a far busier and more profitable place than it would otherwise have been.I hope this is of help. (Ed remains wildly busy right now).love,THO

Ooops. That should have been "handy" not "nady."Sorry, dear. I broke a few fingers some years back in . . . let's just say a work-related incident, and I now have "lazy fingers." I usually watch for typos and clean them up, but I'm afraid I missed that one.As for Lalambril, Ed will have to enlighten you. I'll be ahem, goading him to do so as soon as I get the chance (i.e. when next I see him in person).And I can be pretty persuasive. love,THO

No worries at all, just don't want to miss anything. Did you really break your fingers? Ow.

Lalambril is not a high-priority request; none of my queries are. Just noticed it while going through a list of ballads that George shared in Jeremy's ballads thread a little while ago. I might have to ask you about Barrowhill too... it looks familiar but I'm not finding it in my searches.

Hi again, all. Jeremy, your question has gone off to Ed, who is (as usual) busybusybusy, but he did surface long enough to answer sleyvas about superstitions in the Realms connected to the start of a new year:

There are CUSTOMS observed by many at the start of a new year, yes: over a meal, tales are told of departed family members, and toasts made to them (if the meal is a traveler's meal, taken far from family, everyone there tells of one deceased person dear to them). The most devout individuals in the Realms (and all clergy), pray to one deity/"their" deity and make them a promise of something they'll strive to do in the year ahead. (So, the equivalent of a single New Year's resolution. Usually a concrete deed or achievement rather than a self-denial or general goal.)Otherwise, the turn of one year into the next isn't a big thing, in most places in the Realms.

So saith Ed. Who is writing furiously to "gallop deep into my next Realms novel, about which I can say nothing at all beyond the fact that I have typed the word 'Elminster' more than once..." love to all,THO